Virtual Offices
Serviced Offices International Pushes Bleeding Edge Technology
Published August 17th, 2009 by Jennifer LeClaire
I just wrote about Serviced Offices International’s two new initiatives on Friday. Lo and behold, the Australian serviced office and virtual office provider has stringed together a trio of new programs in what appears to be a major push for customers in its home market.
On Monday, the Sydney, New South Wales company began trumpeting its virtual office IT solutions. Serviced Offices International claims its solutions put businesses on the bleeding edge of technology without the set-up costs, high-end technical salaries or even having the IT know-how. Bleeding edge is a big claim, so I decided to take a deeper look.
Managed Servers for the Masses
Here’s what the company is offering: a managed server – including a fileserver and print server – as well as all the extra services for which you’d typically have to pay an ISP. That means unlimited e-mail addresses, webmail and IMAP services, Web site hosting and design and e-commerce services are all rolled into one package.
The list impressive. Of course, the design services are subjective. Is it a college intern just learning to design Web sites, a bunch of prepackaged templates you can choose from, or a real designer that can offer something professional and unique? I suspect it’s prepackaged templates. Templates might work for certain functions, but typically they are limiting to begin with and if your company is growing you outgrow them.
Serviced Office International isn’t stopping there. The company is also offering its virtual office customers all the latest developments in technology, including high-speed Internet access on a continuous dual broadband connection, managed high security firewall and data protection, 24X7 hacker monitoring and response, remote access to data via a secure connection, and daily back up of files stored on a central server.
Bleeding Edge Marketing
These are all great services. Are they bleeding-edge? No. Are they even cutting-edge? No. They are fairly standard for growing businesses and you can hook up with a company like ServerPronto to get all of those types services affordably. Is it more than what you’d typically get at a virtual office provider? Yes, and this may be a competitive differentiator for Serviced Offices International.
What is clear is that Serviced Offices International is aggressively seeking business. Their technology might not be on the bleeding edge when you consider the Unified Communications strategies we’ve discussed in our series on the office of the future. But, all in all, their marketing programs may be near the bleeding edge when compared with others in the serviced office industry.
I applaud this company for doing public relations and otherwise communicating its unique value propositions. The folks at Serviced Offices International are savvy and smart. It should pay off for them since few others are marketing at this level. More power to them.
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About the Author
Maggie Correta August 17th, 2009 at 8:59 am
I think it’s great that this company is putting out its messages. Launching new products, or even promoting the existing ones, is impossible without strategic communications. The serviced office industry, for the most part, has missed that message. Serviced Offices International is really hitting on all cylinders with its roll outs and promotions.
Rob Zeus August 17th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
You are right. This is hardly bleeding edge technology, but it is pretty sophisticated for a virtual office. I think it’s a nice offering all the way around from a virtual IT perspective. I bet they’ve hooked up as a reseller for some discount dedicated server provider, which generally offers all those features they listed. I really doubt they are doing this in-house. It’s not their core business.
Elizabeth Sanchez August 17th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
I think you make a good point about the templates. I’ve never liked templates. So when virtual offices offer free website design, it makes me skeptical. Web sites are an important part of a company’s professional image. Having a cheesy template that looks just like someone else’s site can be an embarrassment.
Marcus Hester August 17th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Bleeding edge would be some of the stuff we read about in the office of the future series, where executive office suites are wireless, have high-tech telepresence functions and all sorts of other high-tech bells and whistles. Virtual IT is still a new thing for many entrepreneurs, though, so many this is cutting edge for virtual office customers.
Melanie Jones August 17th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Hacker monitoring and response would be of interest to me if I was a solo accountant practitioner using a virtual office service. I think certain customer segments will find value in these Virtual IT services. Also remember that this serviced office company is in Australia, so the needs there may be different than here.
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